


In This One We're Fictional?

by RavensWrite



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Fanfiction, Fluff, Gay, Gay Panic, Humor, M/M, Marvel Universe, Post-Young Avengers Vol. 2 (2013), Reality Bending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:14:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29193636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavensWrite/pseuds/RavensWrite
Summary: Billy and Teddy are bored one night and go surfing through different realities in search of what people have written about their relationship.Some of what they find is cute, some is DEFINITELY not.
Relationships: Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	In This One We're Fictional?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! For those of you who don't know me, the stories referenced by name are stuff I've written and this is just kind of a fun meta commentary on my work. For those of you who DO know me, SORRY I haven't updated anything in like a year. The pandemic happened and everything went to shit. But now I'm back writing and will have updates on existing stuff plus some new stuff. Enjoy :)

“Honey?”

Teddy popped his head out from the bathroom door, toothpaste dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

“Whafs up?” He garbled.

Billy scrolled through the list of unanswered emails on his laptop, tugging at the tag of his sweatpants as it scratched against his hip. 

“It’s just something Cass said to me the other day.”

Billy heard Teddy give a hum of acknowledgement followed by the sound of him spitting into the sink.

“Apparently people write fanfiction about superheroes. Which when you think about it is kinda weird, like we’re real people. Isn’t that defamation of character or something?” 

A newly freshened Teddy appeared in the bathroom door and gave him a toothy grin. 

“Babe, I hardly think that qualifies as defamation of character.”

Billy cocked an eyebrow. He felt a sudden warmth as Teddy came up behind him and slid his thick arms around Billy’s shoulders. The office chair he was sitting in leaned backwards, squeaking in protest. 

“You’re telling me, if someone wrote a Hulkling and Galactus slash fic, with the tags threesome, praise kink, and  _ vore _ , that wouldn’t be defamation of character?”

“Okay yeah maybe you have a point.” Teddy laughed. “But it's not like someone actually did that.”

Billy fell silent. 

“Right?” 

Billy turned to face his boyfriend with a pained expression. All of the color in Teddy’s face drained in an instant.

“Oh my god.”

“I’ve uh... done some research.”

Billy turned to his computer and opened the email attachment that Cassie had sent him. A list of titles popped up and the look of abject horror on Teddy’s face grew more profound. 

“There’s so much of it..” Teddy shook his head in disbelief.

Billy nodded solemnly. 

“Oh trust me, this is the  _ tip _ of the iceberg.” 

Billy kept scrolling and stopped when he got to a particularly intriguing entry.

“Dear god, 110,000 words? Who has that kind of time?”

“I think they’re more invested in our relationship than  _ we _ are.” Teddy said.

Billy stopped tugging at the tag on his pants and flicked his hand at it in annoyance. With a small flash of blue light, the tag popped out of existence. Then an idea struck Billy.

“What if, what if this isn’t all of it?” He asked. Teddy locked eyes with him.

  
  


_ 15 minutes later. _

“So you’re telling me in this universe we’re fictional characters?” Teddy asked.

“Yep, looks like it.” 

Billy looked over the blue squares of light that hung in front of them. Each one showcased a different reality, but the one they were currently preoccupied with was a list of fanfiction titles that seemed to go on forever. 

“Wow there are a _ lot _ of these Billy.”

“Yeah the number really seems to shoot up in realities where we don’t actually physically exist.” 

Teddy tapped Billy on the shoulder, and pointed out a title. 

“Why the hell does that have the tag Major Character Death? Does… does one of us fucking  _ die _ ?”

Billy cringed and kept going through the list. There were a lot of rather innocent ones with the occasional Mpreg or In Public tag making them lose a bit more of their faith in humanity. Billy paused when he found a fic that seemed to be relatively modest and clicked on it. It was titled  _ You, Me, and the Apocalypse, _ and the tags seemed relatively safe. 

“What's this one supposed to be?” Teddy asked.

“Hmm, well apparently we’re in a zombie apocalypse and we fall head over heels for each other. Seems rather unrealistic if you ask me.”

“Then why are you reading it?” 

“Pure, pure spite for the people in this reality.”

_ Two hours later _

“Oh my god did he even TRY to be realistic?”

Billy threw up his hands in defeat. 

“That was the dumbest shit I’ve read in my life.” Teddy laughed.

Billy sat on the floor in disbelief. 

“Does this person know anything about you? You acted like a young damsel in need of a big strong man to rescue you. You didn’t even have _ powers _ .” Teddy mimicked the descriptions as he said them and Billy slapped his arm.

“Hey I thought it was kinda cute! Sure he got pretty much everything about my family wrong but at least the plot wasn’t terrible.” 

“Billy, at one point we drive through an abandoned shopping mall in go karts.”

“Okay yeah maybe it wasn’t super realistic.” Billy sighed. “Maybe we try this other one.” He pulled up the next story, and began to read.

_ Some time later _

“Well that was depressing.” Teddy said

“Yep that pretty much sums it up doesn’t it?”

Teddy wrapped his arms around Billy's waist. 

“Well I guess the lesson from that was don’t become a movie star huh.” Teddy said.

Billy paused. 

“But wait, this one isn’t finished.”

“Uh duh,” Teddy said, “Almost none of the plotlines were even remotely wrapped up. Plus, he changed the Winter Soldiers name to Jaime? Sacrilege.” 

Billy frowned, for some reason Teddy’s voice sounded off. Billy turned to Teddy and saw tears beginning to fill Teddy’s eyes. He frowned and took his boyfriend's hand into his, giving it a tight squeeze.

“Hey everything alright?”

“What? Oh yeah I’m fine. I just think the emotional scenes were done pretty well.”

“Well there isn’t any more posted so we don’t have to read anymore if you don’t want to. He hasn’t updated in, oh wow, a  _ year _ ?”

“Yikes,” Teddy said, wiping his eyes, “Guess he got a life.”

“Don’t be rude, he holds our fictional lives in his hands.”

“Fair point.” Teddy sighed, kissing Billy on the cheek.

“Maybe that's enough for one night. If I see a single work with the tag Infidelity I might hulk out for real.”

Billy laughed and with a small wave the swirling blue squares disappeared, leaving the room much darker. Billy stood up and stretched, closing his eyes and bringing himself back to reality. Behind him, he heard Teddy get into bed and settle down. Billy closed his laptop and plugged it in before climbing into bed himself. Warmth spread over his legs and up his body as he moved over to rest his head on Teddy’s chest.  Teddy hummed and loosely wrapped an arm around Billy’s shoulders. Billy pressed himself close to the warm body beneath him and quietly whispered.

“I love you, in this reality and every other.”

Teddy kissed his forehead.

“Even if we’re fictional?”

Billy smiled.

“Even when we’re fictional.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for sticking around till the end. If you liked this or are interested in some of my other stuff (which is much longer btw) all of it is on my page. If you liked this feel free to leave kudos or comments, it really does mean a lot :)


End file.
